A crucial meeting between the leadership of the National Assembly, the Executive Arm of government, and the Organised Labour, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has ended in deadlock after four hours of deliberations. The meeting was aimed at averting the proposed national strike over the yet-to-be-approved minimum wage for workers.
The meeting, convened by the National Assembly leadership, sought to address the concerns of the labour unions and persuade them to call off the impending strike. However, the discussions failed to reach a resolution.
Speaking after the meeting, Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Festus Osifo explained that the union leaders could not unilaterally decide to suspend the strike without consulting their members. “There was an appeal from the Senate President to call off the strike. On our part, we said we cannot sit here and just call off the strike because we need to report to our people. We will take all their pleas to our organs. For now, we don’t have the powers to call off the strike,” Osifo stated.
The outcome of this meeting leaves the proposed industrial action by the labour unions still on the table, pending further consultations with their respective bodies.
